


Stolen Secrets

by Drazyrohk



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Corruption, Egg Laying, Intrigue, Other, Oviposition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:55:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22116712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drazyrohk/pseuds/Drazyrohk
Summary: This mission had been given to Pax from the very top of the food chain, albeit indirectly. After so many of his superiors had failed to deliver even a scrap of evidence as to the whereabouts of this ghost, trickle down had landed the job in Orion’s lap.Tenacious to the point of foolhardiness, stubborn to the point of enragement, Orion Pax pressed forward no matter how scant his odds of success were.
Relationships: Orion Pax/Shockwave
Comments: 10
Kudos: 80





	Stolen Secrets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StarlightCaptivator](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightCaptivator/gifts).



> Merry Christmas to you, my amazing, magical friend! <3 I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing, M!

His superiors told him the signal was too faint to be anything concrete, it would be a waste of resources, it was too little to amount to anything more than desperation. They told him to give up. They told him to go home. 

Orion Pax was too stubborn and too proud to call it quits. He’d been on the hunt for this fugitive for months, he wasn’t about to pack it in now. No matter how faint the signal was, he was going to investigate. Even if it was just another decoy, there could still be evidence pointing in the right direction. Pax wasn’t willing to risk not following each and every lead. 

Regardless of how this operation went, it was a loose end that could be tied off. 

The trail, such as it was, led him to a derelict cruiser. The rotting carcass of a decommissioned Terraformer was a good place for fugitives to hide, and a good place to get yourself scrapped if you let your guard down for even a second. If his quarry was indeed hidden within, Pax was going to have to be on the lookout for traps and pitfalls. This wasn’t just a run of the mill thief he was after, not a drug addled and half starved leaker the nobles were tired of looking at and wanted dragged in off the street. 

This particular fugitive was quick, crafty and dangerous, not to mention far more slippery than any other criminal Orion Pax had on his arrest record. His target hadn’t stolen food or shanix or medical supplies like so many of the guttermech in the Dead End. 

This one had stolen something less materiel but far more dangerous. This one had stolen secrets, and he had stolen them from the wrong person. This mission had been given to Pax from the very top of the food chain, albeit indirectly. After so many of his superiors had failed to deliver even a scrap of evidence as to the whereabouts of this ghost, trickle down had landed the job in Orion’s lap. 

Tenacious to the point of foolhardiness, stubborn to the point of enragement, Orion Pax pressed forward no matter how scant his odds of success were. 

His headlights illuminated the murky blackness of the derelict’s interior after he forced one of the doors open, but there was little to see beyond half finished bulkheads. Pax found his sensors were just as helpful, showing no more or less strength to the dim spark signature he followed. It was at least a direction to go in. He’d take what he could get at this point.

The halls weren’t difficult to navigate. This type of ship was made for mass storage of goods and supplies, it wasn’t made to be a leisurecraft. Rerouting around collapsed ceilings wasn’t all that time consuming, and there weren’t a lot of dead ends to impede him. Orion Pax stepped carefully, and the deeper he got, the more this felt like a trap. 

It was too easy. Easy never bode well for this job. 

The spark signature did grow a bit stronger the further in he got. His sensors guided him to an intact storage room with a locked door. Upon his approach, Pax made sure his servo didn’t stray far from his sidearm, made sure his EMF was pulled in tight.

There was a damn good chance that if the target was awake, he was aware of Pax’s presence. There was no element of surprise, no upper hand here. 

Pax was going to do whatever he could to give himself an edge. He turned his audio receptors up as high as he could stand, he dialed his olfactory sensors to high. The spark whose frequency he was tracking was beating quick and hard, his quarry was venting in a laboured way. There was the distinct sound of a weapon powering up. Perhaps more troubling was the unmistakable smell of spilled energon evident over the scent of the derelict ship’s rust. 

So, the fugitive was inside. It wasn’t a decoy. Perhaps injured, perhaps frightened, and cornered like a petro rabbit, the danger on the other side of this door was very real. Pax mulled over his options. 

He didn’t have the luxury of time, he couldn’t wait for backup to arrive should he call for it in case the fugitive made a run for it. There was a good chance if it came down to a firefight, the mech on the other side of this door or Orion Pax himself could wind up deactivated, and that would amount to failure of this mission. 

The door could be rigged to blow if it was tampered with. The whole room could be. Even the whole ship. This could all still be an elaborate trap to do away with Pax, the target, the stolen secrets, everything. 

Or it could be the end of the line for the fugitive, the end of the hunt at last. 

One way or another, it ended here. It ended now. 

Pax raised his sidearm and readied a shot. He drew in a slow, careful vent and braced himself. 

It was a clean shot, lancing through the locking mechanism on the door. As soon as the rusted metal cleared the frame, Pax heard the weapon within discharge and threw himself to the side to avoid being hit. 

As he put his back against the bulkhead and raised his sidearm, Orion Pax regarded the singed metal directly across from the door. It was a warning shot. Anything else wouldn’t have missed despite his effort to dodge. 

“Drop your weapon, Meister.” Pax demanded. “You made it this far with your hide intact, I don’t think you want that to change today.” 

The mech in the storage chamber let out a softly hissed curse. Now that the door was open, the scent of energon was more distinct. 

“I’ll drop it if ya really want me to. It don’t mean I can’t still kill ya.” The voice wasn’t what Pax had been expecting from all the incidence reports. It didn’t seem like the sort of voice, the sort of tone that would belong to a fugitive of Meister’s reputation. 

And despite the almost playful confidence that Orion Pax was convinced wasn’t at all bravado, it was evident Meister was in pain. 

“I don’t doubt you’re telling the truth about that. I don’t want that to be the outcome of this encounter, though. I didn’t come here to kill you.” Pax said firmly. The weapon within hadn’t charged again, so he chanced a glance into the room. 

All his caution, his confidence, his refusal to drop his guard, all of it slid away as he did an effective double take. His optics widened, his vents hitched and his field wavered. 

Any sane mech would have had the same reaction to staring down the barrel of a charged weapon, but it wasn’t the readied blaster that made Pax react this way. 

The small blue, black and white frame squatting within a nest of what looked like discarded tarps and sacks was much more unnerving.

“What in the name of Primus?” Pax breathed, and he was forced to duck back into cover as Meister fired upon him again. “Meister, stop!” 

“Can’t a mech get a little privacy?” Meister spat, then his vents hitched and a thin sound of pain escaped him. “As you can see, I’m kinda busy, I ain’t got time for this.” 

“Drop your weapon.” Pax said again with a great deal of urgency but none of the same authority. “I’m coming in.” 

“Oh, are ya? And what are ya gonna do after ya come in? What were ya sent here ta do, huh?” Meister asked sharply. 

Before Pax could answer the furious question, Meister cursed again, his vents began to heave and there was the sound of his blaster clattering to the floor. Glancing round the door frame again, Pax saw that Meister had indeed dropped it in favour of bracing himself with one servo against the shelf behind him. 

The other servo trembled as he clutched at the obvious swell of his midsection. All his biolights and his optics were white with agony. Pink energon slithered down the inside of one pale thigh and splashed into the thin pool beneath him, where two eggs already rested. 

Nearly slack-jawed in disbelief, Pax lowered his sidearm and stepped just inside the door. Meister sensed rather than saw his movement, and he pressed his back hard into the shelf to free up his servo so he could scrabble at his weapon. 

“Don’t.” Pax said hurriedly. “Just leave it.” 

“Nah.” Meister was now audibly panting, and he hadn’t taken his optics off of Pax despite his ordeal. “I ain’t fond of bein’ the least armed mech in a room.” 

“I thought you said you didn’t need it to kill me.” Pax said as he moved just a little closer. He fully intended to get to the weapon before Meister could, either confiscate it or kick it away. 

“I did say that.” Meister’s tone remained conversational, and he even let out a genuinely mirthful laugh. “‘Course, I mighta been overconfident. Nobody told me this was gonna be so painful, and trust me when I say I can normally handle pain just fine.” 

He hooked his fingers around the barrel of the blaster, but almost immediately returned his servo to the shelf as he tottered in place. A drawn out hiss escaped him, the creak of his jaw as he clenched it mirrored by the shelf as he gripped it tight enough to crumple the metal. 

Pax knew turning his gaze away for even a second might invite an attack of opportunity, but it didn’t feel right to watch a mech he didn’t know beyond a name and a rap sheet struggle to lay an egg. He chose to focus on Meister’s face, and that in itself was uncomfortable considering the expression the mech was currently wearing. 

There was a prominent tremble to Meister’s limbs once he was done, and he slumped against the shelf briefly before he let out an exaggerated and long suffering sigh. 

“How many more?” Pax asked softly in the silence that followed. 

“One, maybe two.” Meister replied, and he lifted his helm when he heard Pax take another step forward. “Ah, ah, no. Let’s not do that dance, big bot.” He said with a hint of urgency. 

“I just don’t want you doing something we’re all going to regret.” Pax murmured. “I’d rather not be forced to shoot you.” 

“An interestin’ perspective. Kinda refreshin’ considerin’ how bad the others were itchin’ ta do just that.” Meister said with a tired chuckle. “I’ve been at this awhile. Might be awhile longer yet. So it looks like we’ve got time for negotiations.” 

“I can’t say I’m entirely used to the notion.” Pax said honestly, but he stopped his advance and held his ground. “I’ll at least listen to your terms.” 

“Great. For starters, you don’t come any closer.” Meister said in that same easy tone, but this time the warning beneath it was evident. “I’m gonna go ahead and take that gun and toss it in your direction. That way, I won’t use it and give you a reason to use that sidearm. Deal?” 

Pax hummed thoughtfully. It seemed reasonable at the very least, but he couldn’t let his guard down more than he already had. “Very well.” He finally said. 

“Excellent.” Meister leaned awkwardly and picked up the blaster. He tossed it in Pax’s direction, and as soon as it was in his servo, Pax tossed it over his shoulder and into the hall. 

“There.” Pax said with a hint of amusement. “Next?” 

“Next, you answer the question I asked before you invited yourself so rudely into my nest.” Meister shifted his position a little, which gave him better balance but also put a bit more of his exposed frame on display than Pax would have liked.

“Which question was that?” It had understandably fled his processor at this point. Pax didn’t think anyone could blame him. This wasn’t the situation he’d expected to be thrust into. 

“What were ya sent here to do?” Meister asked with a slow, careful smile. “After hearin’ ya say shootin’ me wasn’t on the books, I’m real curious as to what the plan was when ya found me.” 

“I didn’t even expect to find you here. We’ve never found more than decoy signals, traps and dead ends before.” Orion Pax answered truthfully. 

“So, it’s a turbofox chasin’ a speedster sorta situation? Ya caught the racecar and now ya don’t know what ta do with it.” Meister snickered. “Somethin’ tells me this apple fell real far from the tree before ya picked it up and gave it a polish on those big ol’ chest plates of yours. So what’s it gonna be?” 

“I haven’t made a decision yet.” Orion Pax said with complete honesty. 

“Guess there’s still plenty of time ta make one.” Meister grunted softly. He shifted his position and let out a short sigh of frustration. “What’d they tell ya, anyway?” 

“I was given a very long list of your alleged crimes. It was the most recent that told me I needed to find you.” Pax said in reply. When Meister looked at him expectantly, he met the other mech’s optics. After a short, resigned sigh, the corners of his mouth turned down. “Stealing government secrets.” He concluded. 

“Ah, s’that what they’re callin’ it these days?” Meister said with a laugh. “I guess I sorta did, after a fashion.” 

“You do realize you just confessed to a cop, right?” Pax couldn’t help the amusement in his voice despite the less than amusing situation he found himself in. The implications of the allegations were disturbing, to say the least. “I should be arresting you.” 

“And yet here we sit.” Meister observed with a slow, almost playful smile.

It was difficult to figure out what Pax was to make of that. After all, Orion Pax did not suffer corruption lightly. He had chosen this profession for a reason, he had chosen to live a life of upholding the law. No one was above it. Not the nobles, not the Senate, not even the Prime. And certainly not mechs like Meister, with a rap sheet as long as they were tall. 

From where he was standing, it didn’t look like Meister had stolen secrets. But of course, that could be a matter of perspective. 

“Let’s consider this me assessing the situation.” Pax murmured. 

Meister opened his mouth to speak, but almost immediately clamped it shut again and let out a hiss. “Ah frag…” He muttered, one hand on his stomach. “Can you believe there’s people out there that get off on this sorta thing?” 

Pax had heard of that. He didn’t comment on it. Instead, he looked at the floor beneath Meister, where the pooling energon was becoming significant. He crouched down and returned his attention to Meister’s face. 

“You shouldn’t be doing this here.” He said. “You need a medic.” 

“I couldn’t find one that wasn’t greedy enough ta turn me in.” Meister grunted, and the tremble in his legs was more evident now. 

“I know a good one. The best, in my opinion. I could take you to him.” Pax offered. 

“Can’t risk it.” Meister sounded decidedly short of breath again. 

“You can’t stay here.” Pax insisted. “If I found you, someone else could too.” 

“And how exactly do ya plan on gettin’ me outta here, huh?” Meister snapped. “I ain’t willin’ ta put my life in ya servos just yet, mech, especially with ya bein’ a cop and all.” 

He lapsed into grumbling, shifting his position to get more comfortable. He was rubbing irritably at his abdomen as well. Pax sat for a moment and just observed, then he reached into his subspace and produced a cleaning kit. 

It was meant for his weapons, but it still contained cleanser and, perhaps more importantly, soft mesh for polishing. 

“What’s all that for?” Meister asked as Pax lay things out in front of him. 

“If you’re not going to move, let’s at least see to it you’re not sitting in a pool of energon.” Pax said. He was cautious as he moved closer. The politeness they exchanged didn’t erase Meister’s reputation, it didn’t mean they weren’t possibly still enemies. 

No more or less tense than he had been previously, Meister reached out and grabbed Pax’s wrist in his small servo. “Wait.” He said simply. 

Pax nodded at him, and Meister took in a slow breath before repositioning himself. He dragged a piece of mesh out of the nest wall and lay it on the floor in front of him, then took the softer piece that Pax held. 

“I got it.” Meister’s voice was quiet, and for the first time he sounded uncertain. That confidence was waning. He let himself kneel on the mesh, carefully rubbed the energon from his thighs, his brows furrowed. “This a trap?” He asked after a long moment. 

“No. I don’t conduct myself in a manner that’s nuanced enough for traps or deception.” Pax replied honestly. 

“As blunt as you are broad, then?” Meister looked up at him. A degree of tension still held in his shoulders seemed to release. 

“I’ve been told as much, yes.” Pax offered Meister a hint of a smile. Then he reached towards the eggs that were laying on the cold floor, and Meister made a sound of discouragement. “I’m not going to hurt them.” 

“I know. It’s just there ain’t anythin’ there ta hurt, I’m pretty sure.” Meister said. 

Pax gave him a confused glance before looking back at the eggs. The energon that clung to them had dried enough that its latent glow had faded. When he touched one of them with the back of his fingers, it was cold. 

“They ain’t viable.” Meister informed him. “No point in movin’ ‘em. What a waste, huh? All this pain, all this effort…” He trailed off, and his gaze shifted from the eggs to Pax once again.

Pax knew there was no way to hide the expression on his face, and Meister must have surely been able to tell what he was thinking. The smaller mech let out a breath of laughter and gave Orion Pax a knowing smile.

“I get the feelin’ you ain’t the type of mech to say it aloud, but it’s okay cause I am. And you’re right. It’s probably better like this. Better for them. Better for me.” Meister said, and it settled like an icy swallow of poor quality energon in Orion’s tanks. Bitter. Distasteful. 

“That’s not-” Pax tried to defend himself, but Meister shook his helm. 

“It’s okay.” Meister said again with a placating gesture. “Trust me.” 

And Orion did. He wanted to at least. Because this mech wasn’t hiding in a hole with an ever growing collection of stillborn sparklings around his feet because he was a criminal. He wasn’t crouched in his own energon and fighting through this alone because he was a thief. 

He hadn’t stolen secrets. He’d merely liberated them. And even if the sight of those eggs made Orion Pax feel queasy and made his spark mourn, he knew Meister was right. If these eggs belonged to someone in the Senate with enough power to launch a manhunt of this scale, they’d never be safe if they survived. Never. 

“I can still get you out of here.” Pax said. “I have a trailer. If you stay inside it, keep your field dampened, I can get you to my friend. He runs a clinic in the Dead End.” 

Meister seemed to mull this over as he breathed his way through another wave of contractions. He searched Pax’s face for some sign of deception. Many long moments passed in silence, then he let out a short ex-vent. 

“Alright.” Meister said with a nod. “I wasn’t plannin’ on stayin’ here long anyway.” 

Orion Pax called it in to the station. Just another decoy, he told them. He’d scoured the whole derelict and found nothing. No one questioned it, he didn’t think they would have in the first place. He clocked out for the day and made his way to Ratchet’s clinic. 

It was part of his normal weekly routine, no one should suspect him of a thing, but he felt as if he were being watched the entire way there. He wasn’t prone to paranoia, but situations like this could breed such an emotion into even the most level headed of mechs. 

Pax had given Ratchet the bare bones of the situation. He couldn’t risk the message being intercepted by anyone, so he told him only about the derelict ship and fed him a line about worrying he’d been contaminated by whatever lingered within it. 

Ratchet was irritated and told him to make it worth his while. Pax promised to bring a case of his favourite high grade as repayment. 

He backed himself into the loading bay around the rear of the clinic and honked his horn once to signal to Ratchet he’d arrived. The medic came out with a confused frown, and exchanged it for an accusing scowl when Pax opened his trailer doors. 

“This is not high grade.” Ratchet barked, and Pax waited until the trailer doors were slammed shut to transform. “You better have a damn good explanation!” 

“I promise I do. But can we please go inside first?” Pax asked as he turned to face Ratchet. 

Who was standing alone, holding something bundled in the polishing cloth, still stained with energon, that Meister had taken from him. 

“Uh huh.” Ratchet said dubiously, and with quickly increasing ire. “And why are you standing there with a fragging gobsmacked expression then, Orion Pax?” 

“Inside. Please.” Orion said with a weak gesture at the doors. “There may be optics watching and audials listening.” 

With a soft growl of discontentment, Ratchet spun on his heels and stomped inside. He held the door open just long enough for Pax to make it through, then let it slam shut behind him. 

“Tell me. Now. Everything. I want the truth, I want to know what you’re getting me into.” Ratchet demanded immediately after locking the clinic down. 

“There was supposed to be a mech in that trailer. I promised I’d get him to safety.” Orion said immediately in reply as he watched Ratchet stalk across the room and power up one of his machines. 

“There was no mech. There was just this.” Ratchet retorted as he opened the front of the machine and set the bundle within it. As he stepped away, Pax could see that it was the last egg Meister had been carrying. “Whoever that mech was, he left you a present. Congratulations.” Ratchet said sourly. 

As Pax approached, he saw right away this egg was different than the others. It glowed, it pulsed with sparklight. 

“It’s viable, then?” Pax asked quietly, and with a touch of awe. 

“It’s viable alright. And if this second-hand incubator doesn’t quit on me, it’ll eventually hatch into a sparkling, and then what are you going to do, you miserable, good for nothing fragger?” Ratchet was even more incensed by this particular stray than he normally was when Orion Pax dragged leakers in off the street for him to put back together. 

“What am _I_ going to do?” Pax asked in bewilderment. 

“Yes, you. Your mystery mech laid a damn egg in your trailer, and you ferried it across town. It’s likely imprinted on you, which means it’s not my problem, it’s yours. So what are you going to do?” Ratchet asked.

Pax stared down at the egg, and eventually Ratchet nudged him aside to close the door of the incubator. This was definitely _not_ what he had expected Meister to do. 

“The carrier was bleeding.” He said in a slightly numb voice. 

“That happens. If it wasn’t enough to make him delirious, he’ll be fine.” Ratchet said, and there wasn’t even a hint of reassurance in his voice. “Who was it?” 

“I can’t tell you that.” Pax would have been able to give Ratchet a name if Meister was here, he was sure. Or rather, Meister would have likely given Ratchet a name. 

“What, suddenly you don’t trust me?” Ratchet scoffed. “It would only take a CNA test, you do know that right? I’ll know even if you don’t come clean.” 

Giving Ratchet a long suffering glance, Pax shook his helm. “Of course you will.” He muttered. “And I trust that when you do, you’ll keep it to yourself.” 

“I don’t want to be involved in something that is going to get me killed, Pax, I _told_ you when you started seeing _him_ I wasn’t going to stand for being put in this position!” Ratchet shouted. 

“It has nothing to do with him.” Pax said hurriedly, because the last thing he needed was for Ratchet to go on another tirade about Shockwave. “Nothing at all.” 

“But it has something to do with someone like him, doesn’t it? Just tell me now so I can-” Ratchet began. 

“So you can what? Terminate it?” Pax snapped, his attention turned fully to his friend at this point. “Cover it up? Make it disappear?! You wouldn’t do that, not to an innocent. Not to a child.” 

“I wouldn’t, you’re right. I was going to say, ‘wash my servos of this,’ and honestly I’m offended you’d imply I’d do anything different.” Ratchet’s tone was icy now. “This is _your_ problem, Pax.” 

“Maybe it is. But even if that’s true, I can’t do this on my own.” And he never should have been put in the position that he might have to. But Meister had done what he needed to for his own survival, and no doubt for the survival of that warmly glowing egg in the incubator. “Whether you like it or not, I need your help, Ratchet. This isn’t what I’d planned when I called you, I thought the carrier would be here too.” Pax concluded. 

Ratchet stared at him in defiance. 

“I will pay you for whatever expenses might be accrued during the care of this egg. I have neither the facilities nor the time to take this on myself.” There was no desperation in Orion’s voice, just a firm, matter of fact tone. 

“Do you honestly think we can keep it here?” Ratchet asked scathingly. “If you’re throwing around the old ‘it’s classified’ slag, Pax, then the situation is too hot to be handled here. I can keep the egg warm for a bit, until you find a safer place to put it, but then I’m out.” 

“Your generosity is astounding, as usual.” Pax muttered in reply. He ex-vented shortly. 

He knew someone who could keep the egg safe. Someone who would ask questions, of course, but Orion Pax trusted him implicitly. Ratchet would like it even less than he already did, but if he was serious about washing his servos of this then his opinion didn’t matter. 

“Shockwave has a safe place.” He said aloud. He didn’t want to go behind Ratchet’s back with this. Even if the medic was furious with him right now, they were friends. 

“Of course he does. Somewhere he can run to when things finally come crashing down around him, no doubt.” Ratchet replied. 

“Look at it this way, Ratchet. If the egg is there, it’s not here and you’re not in any danger. Your clinic is safe, you’re safe, the egg is safe, everyone wins.” Pax said sharply. “The burden and the danger falls on someone else’s shoulders.”

Ratchet opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again and simply let out a grunt. He ruffled his armour in discomfort. 

“Yes, well.” He said quietly, then shrugged his broad shoulders. “Better him than me. I still have a lot of work to do here, for the better of Cybertron and Cybertronians.” 

It wasn’t going to be a good time to start another argument about Shockwave and his intentions. Ratchet was hell bent on being convinced Shockwave was up to no good, and also on trying to convince Pax of the same. No matter how much evidence there was to the contrary, Ratchet was steadfast in his belief. 

“You work towards giving Cybertron a future. And that is, as always, old friend, an admirable goal. This egg is part of that future.” Pax said, and he hoped it came across as a gentle reminder rather than a guilt trip. 

The way Ratchet’s armour clamped down, the way the corners of his mouth slanted downward, the indignant mutter that escaped him as he snatched up his scanner and approached the incubator again made it hard to tell exactly how he’d taken it. 

As Ratchet scanned the egg, Pax gave him space. Gave him silence. He gave him time to think and process. 

“I don’t trust the Senate.” Ratchet finally said, his optics fixed on the readout on the scanner. “And by extension, I don’t trust Senator Shockwave. They’re all corrupt and greedy, Orion. None of them want what’s best for all of us, they just want what’s best for them. Things are heating up, and this place is a powder keg.” 

“I know, Ratchet.” Pax murmured. 

“And yet you still put so much trust in him. How do you know he’s not like the others? What makes him so special?” Ratchet asked without looking up. “I honestly think your spark is tricking your brain module into looking the other way.” 

“My spark wouldn’t lie to me. It never has.” Pax countered. “I learned a long time ago to trust my instincts. Shockwave has never given me reason to question his intentions.” 

“I think your instincts trust too easily.” Ratchet looked over at him at last, and there was less fury in his face now. He was wearing a resigned expression, one that made him look far too tired and far older than he was. 

“Your concern is noted.” Pax reached out and put a servo gently on Ratchet’s arm. “I’m sorry to have put you in this position. I didn’t know where else to go.” 

“As usual.” Ratchet huffed, and Pax couldn’t help the flicker of amusement in his field. “It’s fine. We’ll figure this out.” 

“We? I thought it was my problem.” Pax said. 

“Yes, well, you’re useless on your own. I don’t think we can risk transporting the egg immediately, it’s still too new and those sparks snuff easily.” Ratchet commented. 

“Sparks?” Pax queried with a curious tilt of his helm. 

“Ah, yes.” Ratchet turned the scanner towards Pax to show him the results. “Two sparks. They must have split after I put the egg in the incubator. Congratulations, Orion Pax. You’re having twins.” 

…

“You’re going to be late.” Orion Pax gently chided, even though the sight of Shockwave holding the twins, one in the crook of each arm, made him care very little for punctuality. 

“Oh, I know. Yes I do, I know it’s time to go.” Shockwave cooed, his handsome face adorned with adoration. “But how can I possibly be torn away from my most beloved of beloveds when they need me to read them a story? That’s far more important than any Senate hearing.” 

“Except the people waiting for you in the Senate hearing can actually understand you when you’re speaking. Unlike these two.” Pax said as he approached his mate and put a servo on his hip. “They react to the sound of your voice, like everyone else does, but they don’t know what the stories are about.” 

“It’s a bonding experience, and that is all that matters. Bringing us all closer to one another.” Shockwave said as he leaned over to nuzzle Orion’s cheek. A sigh escaped him, wistful and fond. 

“I can take them now. You really need to go.” Orion murmured. “This is an important one.” 

“I am aware of that.” Shockwave said with another, far more long suffering sigh. “It’s all a bunch of bluster, but I must admit I do enjoy riling them up by being right all the time.” 

“Of course you do.” Pax said with a soft chuckle of amusement. “Here, let me.” 

He carefully extricated the twins from Shockwave’s arms, let the beautiful mech give them and himself goodnight kisses, then saw his mate to the door. 

“You’re up past your bedtime, courtesy of your carrier. As usual.” Pax said to the twins as he carried them to the nursery. “Let’s get you tucked in.” 

It wasn’t until the sparklings were swaddled within their favourite blankets and Pax had lulled them into recharge with his deep, reassuring tone that he realized they weren’t alone.

The EMF he felt behind him was familiar, even though his contact with it had been brief. The presence of that field and the mech it belonged to didn’t surprise him in the slightest, but he didn’t welcome it. His own field was prickly with disappointment, and as he turned, Pax found himself looking down and meeting visored optics. 

All the security in the world amounted to nothing when Meister was involved. Orion Pax had accepted that when he and Shockwave were taking measures to keep themselves and their offspring safe. This day would come eventually, no matter how careful they were. 

“It took you longer than I expected.” Pax said in way of greeting. 

“Had some tails to shake off.” Meister murmured in reply. “I couldn’t risk comin’ sooner.” 

“You shouldn’t have come at all. You made your choice.” Pax said, and if it bothered Meister, there was no indication in the smaller mech’s demeanor. 

“Now, ya can’t say you weren’t expectin’ me, OP.” Meister said with a slight smirk. 

Pax hadn’t told Meister his name. Hadn’t introduced himself. It didn’t seem to matter, and again he wasn’t surprised. 

“I was. But I hoped you wouldn’t come. Like I said, you made your choice.” Pax said, and he lifted his chin ever so slightly and narrowed his optics. “What are you doing here?” 

“I came ta thank you. I came to see ‘em.” Meister said without even a second of hesitation. 

“They’re not yours anymore.” This time, Pax saw Meister flinch. It was minute, but it was a reaction all the same. “The second you ran, you gave up that right.” 

“Doesn’t change what my spark is sayin’.” Meister said softly in reply. “I know that doesn’t make it any better, but I know for a fact you know how it feels.” 

Pax knew what Meister meant. The first few days after the hatching, it had been agony to be away from the twins for even a moment. Going to work had been hell, all he’d wanted to do was be near them. 

He stared down at Meister, who held his gaze with ease. A slow, drawn out ex-vent escaped him before he gave the intruder the barest hint of a nod. 

“Make it brief. I just got them to sleep.” Pax said.

“You know I would never hurt ‘em.” Meister said, the frown he wore slight and quick. 

“Just being here holds the possibility of them getting hurt. Of all of us getting hurt. You knew the risks-” Pax began.

“And so did you. Both of us know the stakes, OP. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t sure it was safe.” Meister interrupted. 

It felt so much harder to trust Meister here and now, in this moment. Standing here between Meister and the twins, even knowing who Meister was to them, Orion Pax felt every instinct within him telling him to fight. 

“Is this a trap?” Pax asked as he held his ground. 

“If it was a trap, I wouldn’t have let ya know I was here.” Meister said. “If it was a trap, it’d be over before ya even turned around.” 

Pax could certainly trust Meister was being truthful about that, at the very least. He took a few steps backward and put his servo on the edge of the crib where the twins slept. He would let this happen, but he would be right there next to Meister. Just in case. 

Meister approached in time with him, and Pax could hear his vents hitch slightly when he looked down at them. 

That same uncertainty that Pax had witnessed in him just before they’d left the derelict returned, written even more clearly now upon his face and saturating his field. There was fear, regret even, but Meister still smiled and let out a weak laugh. 

“Well damn.” Meister whispered. 

“I know. They’re beautiful.” Pax said in soft reply. 

“No.Well, yeah, I mean… beautiful. But, well...” Meister shook his helm. “They look just like their sire.” 

Pax had considered that to be the case, since neither one of the sparklings looked even remotely like Meister. It was either that, or Meister’s looks were entirely a fabrication, a disguise. 

“What did ya call ‘em?” Meister asked, his optics fixed upon the sleeping forms in the crib. 

Pax hesitated, then reached a servo into the crib and brushed a finger against the cheek of one of the bitlets. “This is Sideswipe. He’s the happy one.” He murmured. “And the other is Sunstreaker. He’s the fussy one, the quiet one.” 

“Good names. Strong names.” Meister sounded a bit choked, but he still smiled. 

“Shockwave thinks they’re going to be trouble when they’re older. And says it’s going to be Sideswipe’s fault.” Pax said, his own mouth turning up in a smile. “He thinks that no matter how hard Sunstreaker tries, he’s always going to go along with whatever Sideswipe gets up to.” 

“Oh yeah?” Meister looked up at him. “And what about you? What do you think?” 

“I think they’re babies and it’s too soon to tell.” Pax replied with a slight shrug. 

“Heh. Somethin’ tells me this is the first time ya been this close ta sparklings.” Meister teased. “Shockwave’s right. If Sideswipe takes after me, even a little, he’s gonna be trouble.” 

“And if he takes after his sire?” Pax asked. 

The levity wasn’t entirely soured, but Meister did let out a quiet sigh as he turned his optics back to the crib. 

“Then he’ll be proud. Sometimes he’ll be angry. And he’s gonna think he’s right, no matter what.” Meister murmured. 

“That might be the case regardless. After all, Sunstreaker loves Shockwave best, and you could have just described him.” Pax leaned his elbows on the crib and gazed down at the sparklings. 

“Better he thinks of Shockwave as his creator than knowin’ the truth.” Meister said. “Better for everyone involved.” 

“That’s what I said, too. When they hatched. When we made the decision to raise them ourselves.” Pax said. He didn’t look in Meister’s direction, but he felt the others optics on him. 

“Good.” Meister said after a moment. “They couldn’t ask for better creators.” 

“We’ll do our best.” Pax promised. 

“I know ya will.” Meister nodded. “I trust ya will.”


End file.
